Another option
by Kahuna Burger
Summary: Sokka is following a warriors' tradition, but Zuko has another option. Third season Zukka.
1. Another option

Standard disclaimers apply.

Sokka walked towards the room he had escorted Zuko to the week before. His distrust of the former prince had largely faded under the reality of him leaving with Aang for a few days and bringing him back unharmed and even enthusiastic. And once the distrust was gone, a few points had come to Sokka's attention.

Point one : Zuko, while not having been in the Fire Nation military himself, had traveled extensively with soldiers and came from a military as well as royal family.

Point two : The former prince's new conciliatory attitude had matured from the initial "afraid to raise his voice or say anything slightly negative" phase of the first couple of days into a more comfortable and more importantly believable "willing to yell at Sokka for being an ass but still not setting him on fire and even having civilized discussions" groove.

Point three : Zuko liked to train with his shirt off. A lot. While practicing forms that showed both grace and power, along with lots of sweat and a build that Sokka could only dream of achieving. Without any obvious signs of showing off, but also without more than a token blush quickly covered by a small smirk if he caught the eye of an admiring onlooker.

All of which, along with a healthy dose of Sokka-unusual optimism, was leading the water tribesman to a door he hadn't visited since the awkward escort duty of last week with a feeling that the worst that could come out of this would be a curt rejection and maybe a bit of difficulty making conversation for a day or two. And the best that could come out of it... Well, Sokka's brief time infiltrating the Fire Nation military had shown him that the informal traditions he had learned from late night eavesdropping on Water Tribe warriors, and confirmed as alive and well in the Earth Kingdom soldiers and city guards thrived even in the regimented culture Zuko had grown up in. Call it an army, a guard, or a warrior's wolf pack, when manly men spent time without women and with a sense of camaraderie and interdependence, there were ways of helping each other relieve tension, turning down such a request without malice and not needing to talk about it afterwards.

Late enough to be full dark, but Zuko probably not solidly asleep yet? Check. Sokka smelling clean but not perfumed or anything girly like that? Check. A light knock on the door and an entrance loud enough to avoid the firebender responding to him like an assassin but quiet enough to encourage quiet in return? Check and without even tripping and making an ass of himself! A soft and even smooth suggestion as Zuko lit a small flame in his hand to see who it was, "Let's just leave the lights out..." Check and his voice didn't crack at all. Slip over to the bed and lay a hand on the other man's hip, not a grope he'd be wanting to scrub off for a week if he wasn't interested, but not a touch you gave when you were coming in to discuss battle strategy? Check. Now wait for Zuko to either move into a touch of his own, lie back signaling passive acceptance or remove the offending hand and dismiss him...

Or Zuko could light every lamp and candle in the room with a single movement and look right into the water tribesman's face, a pale hand gently touching the darker one that lay on his hip. "Hi Sokka."

Hi? Hi! Well 'hi' to you too, Prince Breaks-Every-Unspoken-Rule-Of-This-Kind-Of-Encounter-At-Once! How's your night been?

Sokka tried to stay cool and let the attempt go with enough dignity to face the other man over breakfast. "Sorry to wake you." He slipped his hand free and began to leave.

"I see." A flat tone to the voice. "No lights, no names, pretend it didn't happen in the morning? No thank you."

"Yeah, the 'no thank you' would have been sufficient." He yanked the door open but the next words from across the room had an odd note to them that made Sokka pause.

"Just wanted to be clear what I was saying no to."

What he was saying no to? What did that... But the tribesman replayed the exact words in his mind, remembering that Zuko did tend to be extremely precise. He hadn't actually said no to Sokka, he'd greeted Sokka. He'd said no to the unspoken conditions of Sokka's presense. He turned back from the open door and looked at the prince sitting up in bed still watching him. What other option could Zuko be hoping for?

"Maybe a little more clarity would help..."

Zuko gave a slight sad smile. "Look, Sokka, I spent three months wandering the Earth Kingdom, lying about every single thing about myself to every person I met. Then I made it back home where I got to lie to myself about what I was doing and how I felt instead." He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the floor. "When I decided to come join all of you, I also decided that I wasn't going to lie anymore, even to myself. I'm not doing anything I'm ashamed of, and I'm not going to be ashamed of anything I choose to do. So if you only want to spend that kind of time with me in the dark, with some sort of... I don't know, plausible deniability that you can pretend it didn't happen... Well then, you need to leave and we can skip straight to the pretending it didn't happen part."

He looked up then and Sokka saw those golden eyes again, the features that the firelord couldn't make ugly even with the brutality of that scar, a friendly and perhaps hopeful look. "But all things considered... I'd prefer that you stay."

Perhaps I'll add another chapter later with Sokka's reply, but the story popped into my mind fully formed with this as an ending, so for now it ends with the counter-offer.


	2. The perks of friendship

**Standard Disclaimers Apply.**

**I've decided to continue this story, thanks to the encouragement from my reviewers.**

"No plausible deniability, huh?" Sokka stepped back in enough to close the door, but stayed leaning up against it.

"If that's a must have for you, I'm sorry." A slight smile had come to the firebender's face, and he was unapologetically looking the other teen over. It was... flattering in a way, perhaps the unspoken compliment was an advantage of having the lights on. But still...

"I'm not... I mean, this isn't really the time for starting relationships, and I'm not usually into guys, like, romantically if you see the distinction, but-"

It wasn't a mean laugh, which was lucky because the water tribesman was still on edge in this strange twist to a familiar encounter. "I'm not asking you to carve me an engagement necklace, Sokka. I've... started to consider you a friend, and among Fire Nation nobility, it's, well it's not required, but it's also not unusual for close friendships to come with certain perks."

"Perks, huh?" He felt a smile twitching at his lips. "Just as friends?"

"Pretty much, at least from what I gathered from my cousin and the various servant gossip. I left home when I was only thirteen, and I never really had any male friends to begin with, but it makes sense in the culture..." Zuko leaned back and Sokka couldn't help but doing some looking over of his own. "It's all arranged marriages and not being allowed alone with girls after a certain age, so the concept of 'romance' is sketchy to begin with."

He walked over and sat on the bed, starting to relax into the conversation. "So you aren't allowed to be alone with girls, but the servants gossip about the boys and it doesn't cause a big scandal? What's the difference?"

"Well you see, when a mommy noble and a daddy noble love-" WHAP "Hey!" WHAP "Ow!" the prince grabbed the pillow away from the irate tribesman and stuffed it safely out of reach. "Seriously though, royalty and upper nobility value their bloodlines even more than their fortunes. A prince being involved with another boy _could_ cause a scandal I suppose, especially if it was a servant or maybe some ambassador's son, but a bastard who's older than the heir showing up on a fire lord's deathbed? That **did** cause a war a few hundred years ago."

"Hrm, good point, and I suppose 'emergency weddings' are a bit more of a problem if your folks have been negotiating marriage with another family." Sokka landed a few playful punches grumbling _when a mommy noble _under his breath.

"Yeah, just a bit. One hundred percent pregnancy avoidance can forgive a multitude of sins- Okay, cut it out!" The prince growled a bit as he caught the other boy's fists and pinned them to the bed. "You make horrible jokes all day long, and you can't take a little?"

"That's the point, you were stealing my schtick. I'm just defending my territory." In the spirit of honestly that had been encouraged, Sokka had to admit that being pinned down by a growling Zuko was a much more positive experience than it would have been a few months ago. He settled back into the bed, gazing up and just enjoying the chance to look without being embarrassed. Golden eyes, fine features, and he slept without a shirt too. Maybe he could be convinced to just give up shirts entirely. "So..."

"So?" Zuko had released his hands and was running warm fingers over his forearms.

"So, before I get fully on board with this 'friends with perks' idea, exactly how much does the rest of the gang need to know about the perks?" He ran his hands up a very nice chest, enjoying the relaxed feel of the moment. It occurred to him that if the night had gone the way he'd planned, he might have been sneaking back to his room by now, having gotten release, but not... not this. "I get not being ashamed, but there's a fine line with oversharing."

The prince smiled, and Sokka found himself thinking that having the lights on had some serious benefits. "I can't say I've ever been accused of oversharing." Those warm fingers had run far enough up to trace the muscles of the water tribesman's shoulders before moving to the ties that held his tunic closed. "As long as I get enough sleep to train Aang, it's really no one's concern what I do with my nights. It's up to you how much you want to share with your friends. Just don't expect me to be making up excuses or going along with cover stories if you run into someone on the way back to your room, or leave a mark somewhere people can see. If anyone asks, I'll tell them it's none of their business. No more, no less."

"Hmmmm, that's fair enough." He sat up a little to take the tunic the rest of the way off and was pleased to see the smile broaden as golden eyes looked down on him in enjoyment. "Of course if either of us ends up with a girlfriend, it will be her business."

"Of course. So are you 'fully on board' now?" Sokka didn't hesitate, just grinned and nodded slightly and his hands went back to that wonderful chest. "Well then," Zuko leaned forward and with a voice only slightly husky said five words. Five words in a tone of friendship and honest curiosity that made it blazingly obvious how much better an idea this was than Sokka's original plan.

"So, what do you like?"


	3. What Sokka likes

**Standard disclaimers apply. **

**I've decided to keep this one non-explicit, I don't want to ruin my first fic with a bad lemon.**

"Really, no one's ever asked you that? Here you act so experienced."

"Hey! I'm plenty experienced, it's just never been the sort of situation where we actually, you know,** talked **about it."

"Uh huh"

"Seriously, when I've been with other warriors it's always been, well, that 'plausible deniability' you don't like, which doesn't lead to a lot of talking. And I went on dates in Ba Sing Se, but that was... Did you date any upper ring girls when you were there?"

"No, I only went on one date and that was when we were living in the lower ring."

"Well the upper ring girls put out, but they've got their own kind of denial going on, like they can't admit that they're **going** to put out, they just want to _get carried away in the moment._ So actually talking about it was out, before during or after."

"Didn't you have a warrior girlfriend though?"

"I can't talk to her about sex, I totally love her!"

"I'm not following."

"Well, when we get physical, it feels like this pure representation of our love, and if I started telling her specifics of what I wanted it would be like telling her she wasn't loving me right or... something..."

"You have got to be the most repressed man-whore ever." WHAP! "Ow!"

**lineline**

"So for sex do you like to... er, be the partner who... er..."

"Oh, and you said I was repressed, Zuko? You can't even talk about it."

"Hey, this isn't a repression problem, it's a language barrier!"

"Oh really..."

"Well, I didn't think you'd have a useful answer if I asked if you preferred coal or flame, and being extremely clinical seemed awkward."

"Coal or flame? Okay, that's just a weird euphemism. What's wrong with just asking who's on top?"

"I wasn't asking about positions, I was asking about penetration."

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I suppose technically the bottom can be on top, but still, usually 'top' means, you know, the boy, and 'bottom' is the girl."

"Whoa, whoa, 'the girl'? There are no girls in this room, I mean there's only two girls for miles and I don't want either of-" WHAP! "Hey, what'd I do now?"

"Ack, bad thoughts! Gah, you jerk, you need to kiss me for thirty-seven minutes straight to cleanse my brain!"

"Thirty-seven minutes? That's an awfully precise amoun-mmmph!"

**lineline**

"Mmmmm... Hey Zuko..."

"Yeah?"

"I think it's been thirty-seven minutes..."

"Heh, must have lost track of time... is your brain cleansed?"

"Yup, but I think my wrists are bruised."

"Oh, I'm sorry! You should have said something."

"It's okay, I, um, I like it when you get forceful."

"Hmmm, yeah? How forceful, Sokka?"

"Well, I don't like a lot of pain, or any humiliation type stuff. But I don't mind getting pinned at all, and I kinda like being able to let someone else take control for a while."

"I can work with that... does this mean you prefer to_ be the girl_?"

"Cut it out, you're gonna hurt your eyes rolling them that hard. And I'm pretty flexible on that front actually... You know, this whole friends with perks thing could work out. It's nice to just say this. Hinting that I like it a little rough just ends with me getting slapped around half the time."

"Hrmph, you've been sneaking into the wrong bedrooms."

"Heh, maybe. So... you haven't said what **you** like."

"Luckily for you, I like to be in control. I mean, I pretty much have to be in control of myself all the time, and that's easier if I'm in control of the whole situation."

"So you have to be top all the time?"

"No, just in control."

"Yeah, but the one being the girl can't be in control."

"You've been dating the wrong girls too."

"Look, I'm just stating facts here."

"Maybe Water Tribe facts, but I'm afraid you are incorrect when dealing with a Fire Prince..."

"Yeah right, Mr Prince, I'd stake my next month of desserts that the bottom cannot control the situ-mmph!"

**lineline**

"Oh, man... That was... that was nice..."

"Hmmmm, yeah, I think I'm going to like being friends..."

"Um, Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"You aren't really going to want my desserts for a month, are you?"

"We'll come up with a way for you to earn them back."

**A/N So since this was coming out almost all dialogue, I decided to have it be nothing but what is spoken (and pillow whaps). Review to let me know if you could tell who was talking or if it was a confusing conceit.**

**Next chapter will get out of the bedroom.**


	4. In the light of day

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**This chapter deals mostly with the 'friends' part of being friends with perks.**

Sokka woke well past dawn and wondered by the angle of the sunlight entering his room if he'd missed breakfast. But somehow he was too relaxed to worry much about it as he threw on some clothes and headed for the courtyard.

The two teens had stayed up another hour, lazily talking about nothing in particular, until the number of yawns and length of sleepy silences convinced the water tribesman it was time to go back to his own bed. Zuko had already mostly drifted off by that point, so he just gave a quiet 'goodnight' and slipped out. Heading for breakfast, though, he second guessed himself a bit. Would Zuko have expected a kiss goodbye? Or for Sokka to spend the night? Would he be offended, or had leaving his room just as if they had been hanging out and talking the whole time more appropriate? The prince had said he didn't want romance, but was kissing goodbye or cuddling a while_ romantic _per se or just the reasonable aftermath of an encounter if you didn't immediately sneak out in the dark? Should he have...?

Then he walked through the archway and saw Zuko sitting with the others, engaging in the new morning ritual of dividing up Aang's day in training while the young monk pathetically attempted to get any time to enjoy himself away from three very demanding bending masters. And when Zuko caught sight of Sokka and gestured casually to the heaping bowl of rice and fruit that he was subtly defending from both Toph's desire for seconds and Katara's attempts to clean up, the water tribesman found himself relaxing. He and Zuko were friends. If he wondered whether Zuko preferred a goodnight kiss after his friendship perks, well then he could just** ask**, now couldn't he?

Well, maybe not over breakfast with everyone else there.

**lineline**

When the group had gathered again for lunch, Aang and Zuko both tired from a full morning of firebending practice, Sokka repaid breakfast by nabbing a serving of badgerfrog for each of them and settling beside the prince. "We're running low on meat," he commented with his mouth full. "Maybe we should go fishing sometime."

He caught Katara scowling at the offer out of the corner of his eye, but seriously, even before last night he had been starting to think she needed to let this go.

"I don't know..." Zuko had waited until he was done swallowing to respond. "I tried spear fishing once when Uncle and I were first on our own, and what I came up with would have been barely worth using for bait to catch a real fish." He must have caught Sokka's amused grin, because he quickly deflected any oncoming humor attempts. "Not that it mattered, because in the meantime, Uncle had found a poisonous bush to brew up into tea..."

Toph laughed out loud. "Glad he figured that one out before he offered** me **tea that time! I thought your uncle was a pretty smart guy, but now I'm wondering."

The prince smirked. "Uncle is a very wise old man, who turns into a complete idiot any time tea is involved."

Katara started to say something, but Sokka didn't feel like letting her ruin the mood. "So all that time you were chasing us around, all we needed to do was tell your Uncle there was good tea in the other direction and he would have dragged you off?"

More of a grimace this time, though there was still amusement in his voice. "Pretty much, he did alter our course for a Pai Sho tile once and he likes tea even more than that crazy game."

Aang interrupted this time. "Did you actually drink the tea? What happened?"

"Uncle drank the tea and started getting hives all over his body, so we had to find a healer. We knew if we were recognized by Earth Kingdom forces we'd be killed, though anyone in the Fire Nation colonies could report our presence to my sister. So of course we headed to the nearest Earth Kingdom town..."

Haru, Teo and The Duke, who had been listening to the story in silence all burst out in a combination of laughs and confusion. Sokka grinned, but waved them down. "Seriously, guys, you have not **met** his sister."

"I'd think being_** his **_sister would be sufficient clue," Katara finally got a snipe in edgewise. Zuko stiffened slightly, but didn't look or respond.

"Yum, lunch was good!" Aang put down his empty bowl with exaggerated cheer. "Come on Katara, waterbending training up next and I want to show you a neat waterfall near the bottom of the temple!" The young monk dragged her off with only slightly faked enthusiasm while Sokka relaxed.

**lineline**

After the dishes had all been cleaned up, Zuko asked Toph to get them up to the top of the cliff so he could bring his war balloon down to the temple. "I'd rather it not turn into a badgerfrog nest, and it might come in handy with this many people here."

"Oh, can I come?" Teo piped up. "I didn't get much of a chance to see Sokka's prototype in action, and obviously during the retreat I didn't want a close up view."

"The more the merrier, Wheels," Toph said cheerfully. She led the way a bit back into the temple. "Everyone hold on tight, I think I can actually bring us up right near it." She gave Zuko a sightless glare as the floor they were standing on shot up into a continually shifting tunnel. "I have a good memory for where people **burn** my **feet**."

Sokka jumped in before the prince could attempt an apology. "Yeah, cause I'm sure Zuko expects everyone who sneaks up on him in the middle of the night to be both friendly and _barefoot_. It would have been a warning shot to anyone else in the group."

Zuko smiled as he elbowed the water tribesman. "I could have held off on any sort of shot, warning or otherwise. Toph can stay mad for a couple more weeks if she wants." But he added, in a much quieter voice, "Thanks though."

"Darn it Sparky, you're no fun to be mad at if you take the blame that easily. Aaaand, here we are!" Toph hadn't been bragging, they came up in sight of the red balloon silk, spread tentlike between some trees. The earthbender sat down to wait while Sokka and Zuko started untangling it and Teo eagerly investigated the equipment in the basket.

"It seems like there isn't enough fuel to be useful."

"Well, not on it's own," the prince agreed. "It was reworked to be primarily fueled by firebending, with a secondary supply for if the pilot needed a nap. It frees up a lot of weight."

Sokka was a little disappointed. "So you're the only one who can fly this thing?"

"Me or Aang. But it will carry two people easily, three in a pinch... maybe four if one of them is Toph or the Duke."

"We could always retrofit an auxiliary fuel tank," Teo put in. "We don't have a lot of parts around here, but it wouldn't be hard to make it so it could switch between bending fueled and normal fairly easily."

Zuko smiled. "As long as Sokka doesn't blow himself up piloting it. So who wants a ride down to the courtyard?"

"Not me, Sparky," Toph looked up from her comfortable spot. "These feet don't leave the ground when there's another way to get there."

"I'd love to, but my chair is too bulky, I think." Teo looked sad, but the prince reassured him quickly.

"We'll rig a seat for you tonight and take a flight tomorrow. You definitely should see it in action. Sokka?"

"Of course I'm coming, I helped invent this thing, you know! And I'd like a flight without explosions."

"Well, I can't promise anything... Ow!"

**lineline**

"So Zuko... if you're willing to give Toph a couple more weeks of being her style of mad, how long are you planning on putting up with Katara?"

The firebender's jaw tightened and the flames he was feeding into the burner might have gotten a little hotter than they needed to be. "I guess until I can find a way to get her to stop hating me... Toph guilting me into doing things for her is one thing, but your sister's level of hostility..." He sighed and looked out over the landscape. "I mean, I've worked with people who aren't particularly nice to me. I've been my sister's favorite emotional punching bag practically her whole life, and when she wasn't actually assigned to kill me, we've always worked well together, but with Katara-"

"Have I mentioned lately that your family is completely screwed up?"

"It pretty much goes without saying, but we were talking about your sister, not mine. And the point is, she and I don't work well together, we can't even be in the same area without it making everything more difficult, and I don't think it's just for me."

"No, it isn't." Sokka was feeling bad for 'siding' against his own family, but Team Avatar as a whole was his family too. "The tension is getting to everyone in the group, and little things are always turning into conflicts where everyone feels like they have to take sides. And Katara isn't the type to understand the difference between saying_ I think you're wrong about this exact issue _and meaning _I like Zuko better than you and hereby betray our entire tribe and spit upon the memory of our mother by siding with him_."

"Well, she is younger than us..." The prince glanced over and Sokka saw concern in his eyes. "Is that really how she makes you feel?"

"Yeah, a little." He looked away but could still feel golden eyes boring into his skull. "Okay, sometimes a lot. Katara doesn't really see things in shades of grey... and she really loves that necklace-"

"I. Didn't. Steal. Her. Necklace," the prince ground out between gritted teeth. Sokka was almost pleased to see his demeanor change from concern and worry to the annoyance that had clearly been simmering underneath it. Annoyed Zuko was more familiar. "I was investigating a report of the Avatar being part of a prison break and I found that pendant on the rig. Technically if I hadn't picked it up, she never would have gotten it back, but I don't exactly deserve thanks for that." He rather forcefully added extra flame to the burner and checked their heading. "Maybe that's why it's easier to put up with Toph. At least I really **did** burn her feet."

The water tribesman set a hand on his shoulder and gave a friendly squeeze. "Been biting your tongue on that one a while?" Zuko held on to the annoyance for a moment then relaxed into an embarrassed chuckle and nodded. "She also likes to claim that you 'set pirates on us' when Aang and I **know** she stole that scroll." He moved his hand from the prince's shoulder to start rubbing his back. A change of topic seemed in order. "So, I can't help but notice that you're wearing a shirt."

This laugh was more surprised than embarrassed. "Is that a problem?"

"Hmmm... Yes, yes it is. See here on Team Avatar, everyone has a secondary role along with their combat or teaching abilities. And I feel a shirt seriously interferes with your secondary role as my eye candy." Sokka gave a cheeky grin as Zuko started to smirk.

"Your personal eye candy? That doesn't seem like much of a team role..." But he slipped his shirt off anyway, causing a contented sigh to escape the water tribesman.

"Aaaahhh, now that's what Sokka's talking about... Well, the others can look if they want to - except Toph of course - but yeah, being eye candy for me will be the main point." He was going to suggest a few other roles that he personally felt needed filled when the other boy stiffened slightly, looking beyond him. "What is it?" He turned around but just saw sky and landscape.

"Can you hit that hawk with your boomerang?" Zuko pointed to the bird, which seemed to have an odd lump on its back. A messenger hawk?

"I'll give it a try, just keep us steady." He flung the weapon hard and saw it hit. "Don't descend till Boomerang comes back! And I thought you could shoot fire that far."

"I can, but burning up the scroll case would defeat the purpose."

"Yeah, what's the purpose?"

"Curiosity, mostly. It had a green ribbon, which is administrative, and I thought we might get lucky and find out something useful." The war balloon landed in a clearing near where the bird had dropped and the two teens spread out looking. Sokka found it thrashing in some berry bushes.

"Awww, poor guy's wing is broken. It's okay, Katara will fix it some, and I'll feed you and nurse you back to health and you'll be mine and I'll name you Hawkie Two and-"

"You really are insane, aren't you?"

"Hey, I had a messenger hawk for a while, and it was really cool!" But he gave Zuko the scroll case before gathering up the bird to take back to the war balloon. Once they were in the air again he fussed over the wounded hawk while the prince began looking through several scrolls it had been carrying. "Anything interesting?"

"Maybe. Informative, at least. Looks like summary reports going to an administrative hub in the Earth Kingdom colonies. Officer reassignments, prisoner transfers, my return to being wanted dead or alive, stationing airships..." Hawkie Two was occupying most of the water tribesman's attention and he mostly heard the information as background noise until a change of tone caught his ear. "Hey, Sokka?"

He looked up from his attempts to tempt the bird into eating a bit of jerky to see Zuko looking very intently at one of the scrolls. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Do you know anyone from the invasion named Hakoda?"


	5. Tea and rage

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

"Please, Katara! Hawkie Two would be heartbroken if his wing set wrong and he couldn't fly! Just try?"

"I dunno, Snoozles," Toph put in from across the fire. "If you heal it too fast, isn't it just going to fly back to where ever it was really supposed to be going? I'd think you'd want a nice slow recovery process to brainwash it into being your friend."

"Hey!" Sokka cuddled Hawkie Two and covered where he thought its ears might be. "I'm not going to **brainwash** him! People don't need to be brainwashed to be my friends anyway!" He stomped away before the young girl could make the obvious comments.

Finding Zuko heading for the courtyard with an armful of cups, he immediately tried to gain moral support. "Hey, did I have to brainwash you into being friends with me?"

"Er, well, if you had, I wouldn't remember it, right? That's one of the things about brainwa-"

"Grrrr..."

Zuko laughed lightly, glanced around and gave the irate teen a quick kiss. "You can explain why we're having this conversation later, can you help me with these teacups? I had trouble scrounging up enough unbroken ones for the whole group, I don't want to drop any."

Sokka noticed the prince was holding a teapot as well. "I thought tea was your uncle's thing."

"Well, he taught me how to make a decent cup when we were in Ba Sing Se. I had been planning on breaking him out of prison when I left the palace, so I packed a lot of his favorite teas as part of my_ groveling for forgiveness _strategy." The water tribesman laughed but couldn't help but think that Zuko sounded pretty serious about the groveling idea. "I thought I could make some for the group at dinner."

"That's suspiciously considerate of you." Sokka did his best imitation of his sister's voice, eliciting an impressive scowl. "Seriously, it sounds like a nice idea." He helped the prince wash out the set, listening to his story about the girl who asked him out when he was working in a Lower Ring tea shop. He also warned the prince against repeating the half remembered tea joke in front of the entire group, earning another scowl, which he managed to erase with a well aimed poke to the ribs.

"Listen, what are we gonna do about my dad, I've been feeling guilty enough about leaving behind most of the invasion force, and I can't just ignore it now that I know where he is."

Zuko checked to make sure none of the others were around. "I told you earlier, I understand and I'm willing to help. If the dates are correct, he's in transit right now between prisons - they must have picked him out as a leader of the other prisoners and wanted to separate him. And trust me, trying to get him now would be a lot better than dealing with the Boiling Rock. No one has ever escaped from that place, with or without outside help."

"Okay, so let's tell the group and get with the rescue!"

"That's the part I'm not sure about - as far as we know, I'm the only one who figured out where you guys were heading-"

"Because you have creepy Avatar stalking powers in addition to firebending, yes."

"Hush. The point is, if the whole group shows up on a flying bison there's no way, short of killing everyone there except your father, that we won't get identified, followed and probably attacked here." He gave Sokka a sidelong look. "And** you **would be in charge of explaining the _'killing everyone' _plan to Aang."

"Ugh. Fine, we can't take the whole group, and everyone's going to want to come, I get it."

"So, we hash out a workable plan between the two of us and you present it to the group over breakfast, grab the people we need and go before the people who aren't involved have time to argue. You're supposed to be the Plan Guy, why am I the one arguing for this?"

"Well, lately my plans haven't really been working, so I'm tempted to wing it."

"I promise we won't give this plan to my sister three months before we carry it out..."

"Yeah, I still don't know how that happened... pretty sure I blame the Earth King..."

**lineline**

Sokka decided that Zuko should make tea every night with dinner. Partly because it was quite good, but mostly because watching him serve it was such a treat. Balancing the tray effortlessly as he moved lightly among the group, kneeling beside each figure to offer a cup then rising gracefully to move on... The water tribesman pondered how he could justify asking the prince to serve tea shirtless.

He had been served first and when Zuko had made his way around the entire circle, they sat together while the firebender sipped his own cup. "This is really good, thanks," Sokka gave his friend a gentle shoulder bump when he was pretty sure it wouldn't cause spilled tea.

A murmur of agreement went around the fire, and Toph added, "The service wasn't bad, either. If you don't have anything to do after the war, you can come be a servant for me." Sokka elbowed the tiny earthbender and got knocked over by a sudden outcropping of rock for his trouble.

"It is funny though," Haru said as he smoothed the outcropping back down. "You imagine a prince being served, not as a good waiter."

"Yeah, Zuko's just full of surprises," came a quiet but acidic voice. The only one that hadn't joined the chorus of compliments for the tea. Sokka opened his mouth to speak, to try to take the comment somewhere pleasant or at least harmless, but his sister spoke again too soon. "Who would have thought he'd pick up useful skills while infiltrating Ba Sing Se?"

Sokka was thrown for a moment, not sure what she meant by that, and again missed his chance to turn the conversation.

"Excuse me?" The prince's tone was polite and questioning, but Sokka could feel tension coming over him as they sat close together.

"Well, I assume you picked up all... this," Katara gestured at the cups and abandoned tray as if they were somehow distasteful, "when you were pretending to work at that tea shop in the Upper Ring."

The fire flared slightly, and Zuko sat up so he was crouched on his heels, but his voice stayed steady. "You assume that, do you? How did you know about the Jasmine Dragon?"

"Oh, I guess you didn't know how close you came to getting caught, huh?" Sokka was trying to pay attention everywhere at once. His sister's voice, the prince's posture, the fire which was no longer flaring but seemed to be growing hotter and the others' reactions. "I saw you posing as a waiter there the day before the coup. Unfortunately I ran into your sister and her goons before I could warn the Earth King and ended up in that dungeon you were planted in."

Toph nudged Sokka in the ribs with surprisingly little force, but he didn't need her insight into heartbeats to know how much trouble was brewing. The fire had stopped crackling entirely and had taken on the quiet, intense heat of the forge where he had smelted the space rock for his sword.

"I see." Zuko's form practically vibrated with coiled tension, but his voice remained steady, now almost flat. "You saw me and Uncle serving tea and immediately went to report it to the Earth King." Haru was pulling Teo's chair a little farther back from the campfire in response to the younger boy's comments that he was too warm, and Aang was looking back and forth between Zuko and Katara, apparently unsure if this extended conversation was clearing the air or making things worse.

"Well, I only saw you, but you were calling out tea orders to your uncle."

"But, um, Katara..." Sokka wasn't sure what Aang was planning to say, but he was interrupted by the prince.

"Avatar, I need to speak with you for a moment." Zuko rose with a grace that almost concealed the rage coming off of him in waves, and he looked directly at the young monk as if he had reached his limit for acknowledging the waterbender any further without immolating her.

As the two walked away a distance, the fire cooled until there were barely coals left. In the sudden darkness, Haru said awkwardly, "Well, um, time for bed, I guess," and gathered The Duke so he and Teo could make their escape. Sokka merely concentrated on slowing his breath as he realized with relief that the incident seemed to have ended without bloodshed.

"So, Sugar Queen..." Toph set aside her now cold tea. "You never told us that you saw Sparky before you were in prison together."

The water tribesman began gathering the teacups as he listened to his sister with half an ear. "I don't see how it matters. It was nice to let him know that he almost didn't get away with it, though." The cup in Sokka's hand shattered and he stood quickly.

"There was nothing to get away with, Katara," he said without looking at her. "He and Iroh weren't_ infiltrating _Ba Sing Se, they were living there to avoid the Fire Nation. If you'd confronted them, or waited for me and Aang to get back so we could investigate the situation together or... or anything else, they wouldn't have been part of the fight with Azula." Sokka wanted to say a dozen other things, but he didn't trust himself. He didn't want to take sides against his sister, but he couldn't side with her either, and he left with the remaining cups.

**lineline**

Zuko and Aang were already finished talking when he had stowed the tea set with their other cooking supplies and headed in the direction they had gone. The monk was sitting on the edge of a fountain in another courtyard, meditating. Maybe he would gain some mystical insight into how to continue his training when two of his bending teachers wanted to kill each other. Sokka headed on towards Zuko's room.

He knocked gently on the door then entered quietly, remembering the night before with a small smile. This time, though, the candles were already lit, and Zuko was still up and (sadly) wearing a shirt.

"What'cha doing?" The water tribesman watched with some concern as the prince gathered a few supplies and packed them in a small bag. "Listen, I know you're angry, but what we're doing here is too important for you to-"

"It's okay, Sokka." His voice was still tight and controlled, and the candles were burning a bit higher than they had last night. "I told Aang that you and I had been thinking of doing something for a couple of days anyway - he probably assumed the fishing you mentioned at lunch - and he needs to explain to Katara while we're gone that she and I aren't going to be interacting anymore." He grabbed his swords in their scabbard and slung it on his back. "When we get back, I'll move into one of the other pagodas, and Aang can come over in the mornings for firebending training."

"Is it... is it really that bad?" Sokka felt the temperature of the room increase and guessed it was.

"I... Sokka, I was happy. I was mostly happy for Uncle because of how much the life we had there seemed to be what he wanted, but I'd also accepted it myself and I was content there. When Azula caught us, I just assumed the Dai Li had figured us out. Just... the universe hating me as usual, nothing that was anyone's fault except maybe Azula's."

The prince set down the clothing he was holding as it started to smolder. "And I've spent all this time trying to get Katara to forgive me, not arguing even when she blames me for things I didn't do, because I wanted to be a part of this group, not just an ally, and she..." Sokka was torn between wanting to comfort his friend and the good chance of suffering serious burns if he did, so he just stood and listened. "There'd been Fire Nation wanted posters of me and Uncle up for months! The last time before that you guys had seen us, Azula called us traitors and almost killed Uncle! But because she won't let anything change her mind, then just like now, she sees me **serving tea **and assumes I'm part of a plot to destroy Ba Sing Se? I don't want her to forgive me anymore, okay?"

"And that means you have to leave the rest of us, too?" Sokka very much hoped he didn't sound like some love struck girl who had been spurned. "Toph likes you, and Teo is warming up to you and we're supposedly friends, but-"

"We **are **friends. That's why I need to separate myself. You said yourself that the rest of the group felt forced to take sides, that it was causing tension, and that's when I was willing to accept fault. I came here to help the Avatar, not tear his group of allies apart!"

"You're calling him_ the Avatar _again. I thought we were past that."

Zuko stopped and looked at him with an expression Sokka hadn't seen since the North Pole. "You know, I'm trying to think this through, and be fair, and acknowledge our friendship when all I really want right now is to throw a fire tantrum big enough to destroy a good third of this pagoda, so maybe you could cut me a little slack on how personally I refer to Aang, okay?"

The water tribesman coughed. "Okay, yeah, I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not the right person to be trying to offer comfort right now." He turned to the door but felt an uncomfortably hot hand touch his shoulder for a moment.

"I do appreciate you checking on me, Sokka. Or I will when I'm a little less angry. I... I know this is hard for you, I don't want to ask you to take sides." The prince looked at him for a moment and managed a slight smirk as his voice dropped lower. "I also don't want to throw you on my bed and take my frustrations out on you, mostly because I'm afraid of burning you, so I suppose it might be best if you did leave for now."

Well. Sokka wasn't sure whether he wanted to blush, leer or (rather unmanfully) swoon. He settled for a cough and a grin that was supposed to look cheeky but probably came out a little goofy. "In that case, just for future reference, sentences including the phrase _throw you on my bed _are not well designed to get me out of the room." He reached for Zuko's arm, only to find it just as burning hot as his hands.

"No seriously." The prince stepped back with a look of apology. "My control isn't great right now, and this isn't something I'm going to just snap out of, even if the distraction is really nice. I'm not going to allow a situation where you could get hurt." He took a deep breath. "Listen, why don't you go and pack up your weapons, any dark clothes you have and your maps. I'll meditate a while until I'm on a more even keel and meet you at my war balloon... let's say midnight?"

"Oooh, a midnight flight?" Sokka found the cheeky grin more natural this time. "And here I thought we weren't aiming for romance with this... guess I might have to start working on that betrothal necklace after all."

"Idiot." But a smile had begun to sneak around the corners of his lips. "Romance in my world is hinting to my parents that your parents would make really good political allies..."

"Well my dad would! He led the invasion force, you know!"

"Go pack... and make sure you bring a thick sleeping bag."

"Of course, it's cold sleeping during flights."

The smirk returned full force. "Actually, I wanted to make sure there was something comfortable to throw you on once I'm feeling a little less combustible."

Sokka found himself blushing while leering and fled to pack before he could embarrass himself with a swoon.

**A/N : Since the boys are planning on breaking Hakoda out in transit, and I've altered the dynamic of Zuko and Katara's relationship evolution, the rest of the story will follow the timeline of the series as imposed by the comet and Ozai's genocide plan, but not adhere to any episodes past The Firebending Masters.**

**A/N2 : Yes, Sokka is obsessed with Shirtless!Zuko. If you're reading this, you probably are, too. ;-p **


	6. Hakoda and the pirates

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

The old earthbender had been right. Fire Nation prisons weren't great, but they were survivable. The benders had been separated into special housing and the Mechanist taken away by a general who wanted to offer him a more gilded cage in exchange for continuing his design work, but Hakoda and the rest of the 'normal' war prisoners were housed near each other and even allowed to congregate during meals and yard time as long as they followed prison rules. The guards were no more or less harsh with them than anyone else, and their strength in numbers prevented the Fire Nation prisoners from trying to settle any patriotic grudges.

The chief spent the time outside his cell making sure all his people were coping well, forming alliances with other war prisoners who were held there and observing the routines and habits of the guards. The time in his cell he spent worrying about his children. He was fairly sure that if the Avatar and his companions had been captured, the rumors would spread even to the prison, but he still worried. Where had they gone after the invasion failed? What possible hope was there even with Aang free? From long tactical discussions with Sokka before the four children had split off from the rest of the force, he knew that outside of a confrontation during the eclipse, the only way for the young monk to defeat the fire lord and his powerful daughter was to become a fully realized avatar. Which would require mastering firebending. Which the child apparently didn't even **want** to do, if a miracle provided him with a firebending teacher.

So Hakoda worried. What if the Avatar tried to master firebending on his own? Sokka had told of how the last attempt in that vein turned out, with Katara burned. What if they tried to confront the Fire Lord with what they had and were killed? What if they waited too long and the Fire Nation used the comet that the guards often whispered reverently of to inflict some new horror on the world?

Then, two days ago, while he had been sitting in his cell and worrying, the guards had come outside of their normal routine. They hadn't spoken, merely shackled him and escorted him out of his cell block, past the other war prisoners, none of whom seemed to be similarly disrupted. They marched him all the way out of the prison, to a rather bored looking soldier standing beside a Fire Nation troop transport with a scroll.

"This is the one," one of the guards said in a tone of boredom.

Not to be out-bored, the soldier with a scroll didn't even look up from it when he said, "Name?" There was an awkward silence as Hakoda waited for one of the guards to answer, until the soldier looked up directly at him and repeated with some annoyance, "Name?"

The second guard laughed and jostled the chief. "He wants to hear it from you, Water Tribe, so he knows we didn't bring the wrong guy. Cause us guards are just so dumb compared to fancy pants cargo shippers."

The other guard didn't seem to find the idea as amusing and the soldier had a look of a man who was already a good 27 seconds behind schedule, so he responded. "Hakoda."

The soldier made a mark on his scroll and gestured to the transport. "Sit him down anywhere that's free."

"Where am I going?" He was surprised to get an answer instead of a cuff.

"You're getting a vacation," the second guard said, apparently always ready to be amused by his own wit. "The warden here keeps an eye on the new prisoners to find the ones with true leadership potential, and sends them on a luxury lakeside vacation. Just don't try to go swimming." Then they left him chained to a bench, and a few moments later the transport began to move.

**lineline**

Two days later, the transport had been joined with another bringing prisoners transferred from the Earth Kingdom colonies, and he at least knew where he was going. The Boiling Rock. Lakeside vacation, indeed. The highest security prison in the Fire Nation, housing their most dangerous criminals. And he was going there alone. Hakoda was a brave man, but he wasn't stupid. This was going to be rough.

On the brief breaks they were given each day, he tried to get a feel for the prisoners with him, considering them a sample of what he would be dealing with soon. There was the expected assortment of violent scum, one of whom had called him "exotic" on their first travel break and tried to bribe a guard into seating them together. The guard had looked at Hakoda's stony face and replied with a laugh that he'd rather not explain the scum's injuries when they were transferred. A few were there for treason, but he quickly determined that they had been trying to advance their own place in the Fire Nation rather than opposing it's goals. One rather extravagant fellow claimed to be a pirate and regaled anyone close to him with tales of daring raids and exotic islands, and the chief did his best to be seated in the other transport from him when he could.

None of them presented any hope of future allies and easily half were potential threats. Things weren't looking good.

Then, on the second day of travel, just as Hakoda was settling into a restless doze and worrying about his children, the transport came to a sudden, jarring halt, before being rocked again by an impact from behind. The two guards who rode inside had been thrown around worse than the prisoners, who were at least chained in place, and it took a moment before they were up and yelling at everyone to stay where they were (as if they had much choice). One had just opened the transport door when it was yanked out of his hands and he folded over an extremely garish red boot to the stomach.

"Captain! Are you in here?" The figure moved swiftly into the small space, easily rolling under a fireblast from the second guard and coming up to smash him in the face with the hilt of one of the twin swords he held. The chief could hear yells of confusion and sharp popping sounds coming from outside and smelled smoke drifting in. He tried to get a good look at the intruder as he searched the transport, but only got the impression of mismatched finery in black and red, an almost feral strength and grace, and a silk crimson scarf tied up around his hair and trailing to obscure half his face.

After determining that his captain wasn't present, the man gave a carefree laugh as he flipped his swords so the blades pointed down and began smashing off various prisoners' chains. "Olly-olly oxen free!" he called as Hakoda felt more than saw the cuffs on his own wrists and ankles broken open, "Everybody scamper and feel free to hit a few guards on your way out!"

'_Of course_,' he thought, impressed in spite of himself that his skin wasn't even scratched. '_The more chaos the merrier_.' Most of the escapees would probably be recaptured with no mounts or clear idea where they were, but a greater distraction would help the pirates. Well, he for one wouldn't be turning down the opportunity.

But as he left the transport, coughing in the stinging smoke, the chief felt a hand grab his arm and looked to see the pirate again, the trailing end of the scarf now pulled down across his face to cover his nose and mouth. "Come on," he heard, but didn't wait to hear more. Pirates had only one interest in Water Tribe and it wasn't a friendly one. Hakoda drove his fist into the man's gut and wrenched away as he gasped. Starting to run and trying to determine the best direction in the turmoil around him he heard an angry curse, but if the thrown swords made any noise it was drowned out and all he knew was a crash of pain and then darkness when the joined hilts of the twin blades struck his skull.

**A/N : I know that it is wrong, but the urge to end the chapter here is overwhelming! I imagine it's apparent to just about everyone (except poor Hakoda) what's going on, but the cliffhanger is still fun. Next chapter : Confused!Hakoda, Cranky!Sokka and DefensivelyApologetic!Zuko... **


	7. Confused Hakoda is confused

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

"I can't believe you did that!"

As Hakoda swam back up in to consciousness, he had the strangest sensation of floating. It was like being on a small boat in utterly becalmed waters. Voices were arguing and he could hear the occasional distinctive woosh of firebending, but it didn't sound like a fight otherwise.

"Look, I already said I was sorry three times and I'll say it again when he wakes up, but-"

"I mean seriously, I thought it was pretty clear that the plan was to **rescue** my dad, not concuss him, but maybe I should have said that explicitly?"

_His dad?_

"Well, I'm afraid the plan didn't include a response to your dad not **wanting** to be rescued and gut punching me, so I had to wing it."

"Oh like you even felt it with those abs..."

"I don't feel it when you punch me, but sorry, Sokka, your dad hits harder than you."

_Sokka?_

"And you couldn't come up with any way to wing it that didn't involve smashing his head in?"

Hakoda managed to force his eyes open and saw two figures. One was the pirate from before, though he had removed the scarf revealing both shaggy black hair and a large scar on the side of his face that had been obscured by the trailing end. He was using fluid bending gestures to fill a metal box between them with flames, while arguing with...

Sokka? Well, maybe. Last time he saw his son, he had been pretty sure he wasn't a pirate. But there he stood, in high black boots stitched in gold thread, a black hat with a tattered plume sitting on his head at an unaccountably jaunty angle and an outfit of blues and greens that looked like he'd robbed an Earth Kingdom ball and just worn all the bits he liked. His 'space sword' was belted at his waist but he made no move to draw it on the firebender he was yelling at.

"Besides blowing our entire cover, no, I couldn't think of anything else at the moment, sorry."

"Well, maybe next time I'll bring someone who doesn't try to solve every problem with- Dad, you're awake!" Hakoda tried to get his bearings as his pirate son hugged him and began peppering him with questions. "How's your head? Can you sit up? How many fingers am I holding? Are you nauseous at all? Any memory loss?"

"Sokka, give him some room to breathe!" The firebending pirate scolded.

"It's okay, son, my head hurts a little, but I think I'm all right... Why are you working with pirates?" Firebending pirates no less, he thought in confusion.

The boy gaped at him for a moment then started laughing. "Oh no, it's... it's okay, Dad, we aren't really pirates, these are just the disguises for rescuing you!"

"But, he was looking for that captain who was on the other transport?" Hakoda managed to make his way to his feet and lean against the railing of the... balloon?

"Exactly! Brilliant, isn't it?" Sokka apparently realized his father was missing a few pieces of information. "See, Zuko was worried his crazy sister would track us down if she found out you were rescued, so we decided to stage a rescue for someone else, and 'accidentally' free you in the chaos. I thought the pirate captain would be a good target because he'd be expected to have a crew."

"And because you wanted to go shopping for fancy clothes," put in the firebending pirate... well, firebender. Wait, 'Zuko'? With a scar like that?

"And because I look good as a pirate, yes, but can you bl-"

"I'm sorry, is this **Prince** Zuko? The Fire Lord's son?" He was on a Fire Nation war balloon with the heir to the throne who had helped try to kill the Avatar and his own son who had apparently gone insane. He had never missed being chained to a bench so much.

"Er, well..." Said son coughed in a slightly embarrassed way.

"Of course, I'm sorry Sir, I should have introduced myself. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." He had placed his hands at his chest in the fire salute Hakoda had seen the prison guards give when the warden approached, then fluidly shifted them to bow Water Tribe style as he said, "It is an honor to meet you, Chief Hakoda."

The chief looked rather helplessly to his son, who coughed again. "Um, he's teaching Aang firebending."

As if that made more sense. "I... I thought the Avatar didn't want to firebend."

"Well he didn't, and he was having trouble because of that, and then Zuko couldn't firebend as well, because apparently his power was based on being an angry jerk and he couldn't perform once he decided to be nice, but then they went and met some dragons who taught them a cool dance and they both felt better about-"

"It is **not** a dance, I didn't_ decide to be nice _and why can he call Aang 'the Avatar' and I can't?" Zuko was giving Sokka a decidedly grumpy look.

"Well, he's using it as a title, not... you know, a label like you used t-"

"Sokka!" Hakoda fixed his son with a serious glare. "I know I took a blow to the head, but could you please explain to me why the** prince **of the Fire Nation is suddenly on our side?"

"Um... well, you see, when we fled the invasion he followed us and said he wanted to train Aang and help end the war and we didn't believe him, except Toph who knows when people are lying and said he was sincere, and Appa but I haven't ruled out the honey hypothesis on that, but then Toph went to talk to him and he accidentally burned her feet but felt bad about it then when Combustion Man showed up Zuko helped fight him and almost got killed so we decided to give him a chance and now he's really proven himself and dragons like him, so..."

"I... see." The chief found himself somewhat distracted from his next line of inquiry by the look of annoyed affection that the pirate, er prince, was currently shooting at his son.

"Maybe you should both get some sleep," Zuko suggested. "We've got an hour before sunset, then I'll change our course to take us straight towards the Air Temple." At Hakoda's questioning glance he elaborated, "We're on a heading for the Earth Kingdom now, taking us closer to where the others are but not on a direct path, just in case."

"Maybe your secondary role in the group should be the Paranoid Guy... Here dad, you can have the sleeping bag, I'll wrap up in my new cloak. Man, we should be pirates full time, just look at how well this goes with the hat..." The prince grumbled that Sokka would be paranoid too if there were less than six people on the planet who **didn't **want him dead, but went back to filling the balloon's burner with flames. Hakoda settled down on the sleeping bag and allowed himself to drift off again.

**lineline**

He woke at night to the sound of firebending and his son's snoring. Without stirring, he opened his eyes slightly, to observe the Fire Prince heating the burner again. His movements were very different than the firebending Hakoda was used to seeing in combat. More fluid, almost elegant. He closed the iron door, checked the stars to confirm their heading then knelt to take something out of a bag at his feet.

"Would you like some water, sir? I'm afraid we didn't bring much in the way of food, but there are some moon peaches. We should be back to the others in three or four hours." He was startled, but simply sat up and nodded to accept. The teen, who had taken off the garish boots and some of the more ridiculous finery, settled beside him cross legged and handed over a waterskin and two fruits. "I'm, er, very sorry about your head, Chief Hakoda. You moved away before I could tell you Sokka was there and I couldn't exactly yell it out, but... um, sorry. I'm sure your daughter will be able to heal any remaining pain when we get to the Air Temple."

"Is an Air Temple really the best place for an airbender on the run to be hiding?" He took a drink.

"I've had my concerns about that as well, but Fire Nation propaganda works with us in this case." Zuko leaned back against the side of the basket and took a bite of his own peach. "The Air Temples don't appear on any modern maps, and aren't even discussed in the official histories. Those who know they exist tend to assume most were physically destroyed in Sozin's attack on the Air Nomads. I know I was shocked at how much remained when I visited them the first time. And while we may eventually be looked for there, at least we won't be spotted there."

He stood for a moment to heat the burner, then sat again. Hakoda finished one of his peaches and drank again. Not exactly filling but better than prison food. "Sokka didn't really answer my question earlier."

The prince nodded. "He was trying to explain why the group accepted me, but you were asking why I wanted to join with them in the first place." He added in a casual tone, "You don't trust me."

"That doesn't bother you?" The chief didn't bother denying the observation.

"It would have a couple of days ago, but I've toned down my expectations on that front. The only person I need to trust me is Aang, because teaching him would be almost impossible otherwise."

"You don't care if my son trusts you?"

Zuko smiled affectionately over at the still snoring boy. "I'm very happy about Sokka's trust and friendship, but it's a bonus. I didn't become a fugitive again to make friends, I did it to help end the war and bring some balance back into the world. And the trust I _need_ for that is the Avatar's."

"As I understood it, you spent three years doing whatever it took to get back to the palace," Hakoda's voice was blunt and he didn't try to hide his skepticism. Aang might be the Avatar, but he was also a child and sometimes children needed an adult to second guess them. "I'm finding it hard to imagine what would have made you give it up again."

The prince leaned back and gazed up at the moon. After a moment of quiet almost long enough for Hakoda to push again, he spoke contemplatively. "You know how people always say 'you don't know what you have till it's gone'? It turns out that works the other way around too. You can want something so badly it seems nothing else matters, sacrifice everything to get it, and then realize that you never_ really _understood what exactly it was you were striving towards."

"I've been trying to gain my father's approval a lot longer than three years... I suppose the first sign I actually paid attention to was that I finally got that approval when he thought I'd killed a 12 year old boy who wanted to bring peace to the world." He got up again and returned to heating the burner, but stayed there, seeming to find peace in the movements of the flames. "Just before the eclipse, he invited me to a special war meeting - he actually wanted me there and wouldn't start it without me. Sat me at his right hand, asked my opinion on the issue of the Earth Kingdom rebellions... I told him that I didn't think the people of the Earth Kingdom would ever give up. I wanted to encourage him to let go of the need to have the entire world as Fire Nation, make a peace of some sort and be satisfied with the colonies we had there. He... took it a different way."

Hakoda didn't speak. He remembered the talk of the comet, knew what the Fire Nation had used it for the last time it came. He found himself thinking that for all he'd done, this boy wasn't much older than his own son.

"So that's what made me give up what I spent my whole life trying to get. Turned out the approval I wanted came from a monster, but I couldn't see that until I actually had it." Zuko glanced back over at Sokka, and Hakoda realized his son hadn't been snoring for a while. The prince gave that affectionate smile again, that seemed almost out of place on his face. "You should try to get some more sleep," he said and seemed to be addressing it to both Water Tribe men. "Unless we can somehow sneak in without waking anyone, I wouldn't anticipate being allowed to go to bed once we get to the Air Temple."

Hakoda agreed and from the snores that began again as he drifted off, so did Sokka.

**A/N : And this concludes Hakoda's perspective. Next chapter will return you to your regularly scheduled Plan Guy. Maybe we'll come back to Hakoda later if I think the boys need some parental disapproval angst in their lives. **

**A/N2 : I wrote an M rated one shot of the Zukka variety, and if you ever want this or my other ongoing fic to become lemony, you should review it to tell me what I did right or wrong. If you think these are better T rated, you should tell me that in reviews here. Basically you should send me lots of reviews because I get this silly little happy **_**PING **_**inside when I see one in my mailbox. *blushes***


	8. Grrrr, mine!

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

Sokka and his dad didn't manage to sneak in without waking anyone. Zuko did his part, drifting down to the courtyard beside the one where the group slept on warmer nights, and letting the two off with a silent handshake for Chief Hakoda and a quick hug for Sokka. The two water tribesmen were not without skill in stealth and under most circumstances they could have made it to a sleeping spot near enough the group to not be accused of hiding from them in the morning. Normal circumstances did not include The Duke having just woken up for a midnight bathroom break and yelling "Sokka! Did you catch a lot of fish?"

Then Toph shot a rock up under the boy and said "Quiet down, Snoozles and Sparky can tell us in the... Wait, that's not Sparky!" and with a yell of glee, slammed her fist in to the ground to propel Katara still half asleep into her father's arms. At which point father and son exchanged a rueful glance and accepted that they had gotten all of their sleep for the night.

**lineline**

Hakoda sighed as the glowing water ran over the back of his scalp. "Thank you so much, Katara. Though I'd say I got off fairly light for throwing the whole plan out of order."

He winked at Sokka, who laughed and, forgetting his audience shot back, "At least Zuko threw his swords instead of a fireball, ask Toph about her feet sometime." Then he realized his mistake.

"**Zuko** hit you?" The waterbender's eyes flashed with rage. "Where is that bastard, I'll show him to mess with my family **again**, he won't know what-"

"Katara, calm down!" The chief looked to his son in concern as he gently pulled his daughter down to sit beside him. "Like I said, I messed up Sokka's plan quite a bit, you see I didn't actually know I was being rescued. The boy couldn't exactly yell_ 'no wait, I'm not a pirate' _after the two of them did all that shopping, now could he?"

The group laughed and Teo said cheerfully, "Maybe you two should start at the beginning, this sounds like one crazy rescue!"

Katara was still grumbling. "Still sounds reckless to me, I mean he threw his swords? What if he cut your head off instead of knocking you out?"

Sokka held back the desire to defend Zuko, he had separated himself so that the group wouldn't have to take sides, after all, but his dad responded again with a laugh. "Somehow I don't get the impression that him messing up with those blades is a major concern." He surveyed his wrists ruefully. "Considering he broke my shackles off in less than a second, without scratching me and barely even looking at me! That confused me when I woke up; I never would have even considered the possibility of him being a bender with that kind of weapon skill."

Aang grinned and leaned forward, "Oh man, Chief Hakoda, I know exactly how you felt! Zuko broke me out of prison once and he did almost the same thing with the swords and the chains, I was all _'Augh I'm gonna __**die**__, wait I'm free, am I still gonna die?' _It was even scarier because he was wearing that Blue Spirit mask..."

"Now wait, how did you not know you were being rescued if he broke your chains off?" Haru was trying to keep up with the thread of the conversation. "Teo's right, let's hear this story properly!"

"Well, okay," Sokka smiled, happy for an opportunity to show off his planning skills and pleased that Katara had settled down some. "So it all started when we saw Hawkie Two the other day..."

**lineline**

"...and I certainly wasn't going anywhere with a pirate, so not knowing any better, I punched the poor kid trying to rescue me in the gut!"

Hakoda paused to have a sip of the soup Katara had warmed up for them as they talked, and Teo interrupted. "Oh, like he even felt it with those abs!" The group was distracted from responding by Sokka choking noisily on his own soup. "What?" the younger boy said with a blush, "he trains with his shirt off, it's hard not to notice that the guy is ripped!"

"No, it's..._ cough _it's not that, I um, just said pretty much the same thing when Zuko complained about Dad hitting him. He says my dad hits hard." He added the last bit with a proud grin at the older water tribesman and the group laughed.

Sokka took another drink of soup, glad that his prior mouthful had blocked the irate cry of "Hey, back off, those are **mine** to admire!" that his hindbrain had tried to make without consulting the parts of his brain that kept his private life private, particularly from his dad and little sister._ And anyway_, he scolded his brain,_ I said the others could look, didn't I? So don't get all stupid and jealous when someone notices how mindbogglingly lucky I am to have friendship perks with a sex god! _Not that they would notice the perks, since that's his private life, but they could notice the sex god part and he should just be quietly smug, not filled with a desire to go...

"Hey, you know speaking of Zuko's stomach, I should bring him some soup. I mean, he was going to go right to sleep since he was up the whole time fueling the balloon,"_ except for a little break on the sleeping bag, but he wasn't resting then either_, "but we didn't really have a full meal while we were gone, so I'll at least drop it off in case he wakes up and wants something..." Babbling semi coherently, he gathered up a large bowlful and made his escape.

He tried not to notice Toph's knowing look or Hakoda's contemplative one.

**lineline**

Zuko was asleep when he made his way around to the other pagoda, but didn't seem cranky to be woken up by Sokka's entrance. "Hey, that smells good, wha- _ahrge lugh AH wha_?" he finished thoughtfully as the other boy left the bowl on the side table and leaped into the bed to trace the lines of his stomach muscles with his tongue.

The water tribesman glanced up with a slightly feral grin and said cheerfully, "Just marking my territory," as he licked up the prince's chest and nipped his chin before crashing into a passionate kiss. He felt Zuko laughing into his mouth as he returned the gesture and was unsurprised to find himself flipped onto his back by the time their lips parted.

"Dare I ask what brought this on? Hmmm... not that I'm complaining, but I'd resigned myself to giving you some space for the next few days so you could spend time with your dad." Pale fingers made quick work of the lacings on Sokka's fancy 'pirate' shirt then ran lightly over his collarbones.

"Heh, maybe not," he responded with a slight blush, "I don't know if I'm allowed to get dumb and feel all possessive over something like this." He felt the warm fingers still, but when he glanced up nervously, golden eyes were dancing happily as they looked down at him.

"You're allowed to feel whatever you want, Sokka. Just, you know, keep me up to date on where I stand and I'll be satisfied."

"Hrmmm... satisfying you **standing**, now that's not a bad ide-" WHAP! "Hey, what did I say about stealing my schticks!" The two wrestled for control over the pillow and soon tumbled out of the bed, laughing.

**lineline**

Later, after they untangled themselves and Zuko had reheated his soup, he pulled Sokka over for a quick kiss. "So what's this about feeling jealous?"

"Heh, it was kinda dumb, Teo made a remark about how built you are and some stupid hormonal part of my brain went _grrr, mine! _but luckily I was eating and couldn't make a fool of myself."

The prince laughed and elbowed him. "That is a little dumb, I mean, that's just a fact of life, it's like being jealous of someone saying I have gold eyes."

"Hrm, I do like your eyes, so if I was sufficiently tired and irrational at the moment I might..." He scowled at Zuko's chuckles. "Well at least I can make you laugh."

"Mmmmm, you can, it's nice, usually even when I think something is funny I'm too embarrassed to laugh... And for the record, I like your eyes, too." He finished off his soup and set the bowl aside. "So shouldn't you be getting back before people start getting suspicious?"

"I should, but it's really warm and comfy here. Would, um, would you mind if I stayed?"

He was rewarded with a broad smile. "Not only wouldn't I mind, I think I'd like that a lot. It's a little too quiet in this part of the temple."

Sokka grinned as he snuggled into his friend's side. "Well, I'll definitely help with the quiet part... So you don't think it's weird I got jealous when I was all insisting I didn't want a relationship?"

"Actually... to be honest I was arguing with myself the other day about whether I had the right to ask if you would be sneaking into any other bedrooms for however long we decide to keep this up. So if you're weird, I am too."

"Hmmm, no. I mean, not no you don't have the right to ask, no, even if there was anyone else here I was interested in, it would feel wrong to be doing that, at least not without telling you about it and giving you a chance to break things off if you didn't like it. Besides," he leaned up to kiss the other boy's cheek, "I think you've ruined me for other warriors. I... I don't think I'll be giving up these perks until I'm ready to carve a necklace and start repopulating the Southern Tribe."

He could almost feel the smile as Zuko nuzzled into his hair. "Sounds like a plan to me... I'm hoping to be your friend for a good long time." Sokka smiled too as he drifted off, wondering vaguely what his chances were of finding a girl who wouldn't mind him visiting a really good friend in the Fire Nation once in a while...


	9. The new normal

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

Sokka woke in the morning to the distinctive sounds of firebending. As he found his shirt and fixed his wolftail, he wondered at how quickly those sounds could become comfortable rather than terrifying. Things had been shifting and changing almost constantly since Aang had entered their lives, he supposed it wasn't that surprising that he was able to roll with the punches now, accepting the most recent situation as the new normal and enjoying it until it changed again. So what if two weeks ago Zuko had been his enemy? Seven months before that, he'd never met the guy. And there had been months in between where they hadn't seen him. So it really wouldn't take that long till the cumulative 'being friends' time was longer than the 'being enemies' time and then the idea that he'd ever been afraid of the Fire Prince would be the strange thing.

As he entered the small courtyard where Aang was being put through his paces, he saw a full bowl of rice and fruit waiting. An empty bowl beside it soothed any worries he might have that he was stealing Zuko's breakfast, and even if he was, he could make it up to him...

"Sokka, Zuko won't show me his pirate outfit!" the young monk complained as he settled down to rest a few minutes later. The prince rolled his eyes and stole a few bits of fruit. "Chief Hakoda was telling us all how flashy he looked, and everyone was disappointed they didn't see it. Especially The Duke. Can you get him to wear it for us?" The water tribesman laughed, first at Aang's earnest hopefulness, then at Zuko's exaggerated annoyed face.

"Hmmmm... lemme see what I can do..." Sokka sat up straight and turned to Zuko as if to address him seriously - then flung himself around the other boy's waist, whining piteously. "**Please** wear the pirate outfit, Zuko! Pretty please? With komodo chicken and seal jerky on top? _PLEEEEEASE_?"

Aang fell back laughing as the prince shoved the younger teen off of him with an obviously fake scowl. "I am not wearing that ridiculous thing again, especially the boots - I swear even Ty Lee wouldn't put on something so garish and she was in the circus!" He stood up and gave the airbender a stern look until he stood as well and resumed a bending stance. "In any case, Aang lost two days of training, so we need to focus. You should get back to the others anyway and see how your father is settling in." He flashed Sokka a quick smile. "And if you and Teo want to come over after lunch to work on the war balloon, that would be fine."

The water tribesman tossed off a quick salute. "Aye aye Captain Zuko," he said cheerfully. "I need to check on Hawkie Two anyway." He heard the sounds of firebending begin again as he headed towards the main courtyard.

**

* * *

**

Hawkie Two seemed pleased to see him, and Sokka was soon occupied feeding the bird. His father had apparently taken a walk with Katara and as usual Teo, Haru and The Duke were off on one of their exploration trips which left him with a tiny earthbender who was currently wearing an evil smirk of the _I'm gonna tease Sokka till he explodes _variety.

"Soooo... You get lost on your way back from the soup delivery last night, Snoozles?"

Unfortunately for Toph, he had anticipated this plan of attack, and had decided on a defensive strategy already. "No, I just decided to spend the night." He continued doting over the messenger hawk and enjoyed his younger friend's brief speechlessness. She'd obviously been ready to counter any lame excuse or exploit flustered avoidance, but all but acknowledging her suspicions left her floundering.

"Well. So is Sparky a good cuddler?" She regained her conversational footing and pushed some innuendo into Sokka's comment.

"Hmmm... He's actually a great cuddler." He grinned, partly in memory, and partly at the fact that he'd actually gotten Toph's jaw to drop at the straightforward response. "I don't know if it's a firebender thing, but he's really warm, and not too bony or anything. And he didn't set me on fire in his sleep, which I was a little worried about."

"So... you two are a couple now?" Toph had clearly given up on embarrassing Sokka and was going for as much information as possible while he was feeling frank.

The water tribesman hesitated. "Not exactly. I mean, not like me and Suki or the way Aang wants to be with Katara. We're really good friends."

"Uh huh." It was really quite impressive how much skepticism could be contained in two syllables. "Really good friends who kiss and cuddle."

"Among other things." Toph couldn't see the cocky grin that spread over his face, but the tone came through and Sokka barely restrained himself from a victory lap around the fountain. She blushed! He had actually made her blush! But after a moment, he coughed slightly. "Though I don't know if it will be easier or harder for my dad to accept than if we were, you know, wanting to get married and have two point five kids and stuff."

"I don't think it will be that much of a problem," the earthbender said knowingly as she regained her equilibrium. "I'd think you'd be more worried about how Sugar Queen is taking even the non-kissing and cuddling variety of friendship between you and Sparky."

"Hmph." Sokka began devoting very intense attention to Hawkie again. "He's living in the other pagoda now, she doesn't have to actually see us spending time together..."

"Is that going to be permanent, you think? I already miss the tea." He snorted slightly but any further response was cut off by his father's approach.

"Dad, I thought you were hanging with Katara this morning!"

"I was, now she's going over to the other pagoda to have a talk with Prince Zuko." He casually grabbed Sokka's arm and stopped him from bolting into the temple. "Just to talk, don't worry.

"After their last talk, Zuko had to meditate for an hour before he stopped accidentally setting things on fire!"

"I'm fairly confident this will go better..." This time he missed his son's arm and shook his head as he watched the teen run off. "But I suppose a little supervision couldn't hurt..."

* * *

Sokka almost ran over Katara as she was exiting the main temple. "Oh, wow, imagine seeing you here!" He attempted to subtly check for blood spatters or singed clothing.

"Yeah, what a shock... It's okay, Sokka, I didn't attack your boyfriend or get him riled up again."

"That's a relief, did you guys clear the air any or- now hang on, he isn't my boyfriend!" She merely looked at him. "He isn't! We're friends! Good friends... with certain perks..."

"I probably don't want to know... Look, I just went over to thank him for helping rescue Dad, and to tell him that while he's probably right about us having some distance, I'll try to be more polite if he wants to have dinner with the group still. And... um... to make sure he knows that you two both will have family obligations once the war is over."

"Really." He looked at his sister half amused, half annoyed. "And how did he respond to that observation?"

She blushed a little. "Sort of like I was telling him how to firebend. I guess royalty is pretty aware of the balance between personal desires and family obligations."

Sokka laughed and gave her a hug. "Well, it's still good that you're looking out for things, I suppose. Don't worry, Katara. I may not believe in destiny and all that, but I know I have a role to play in the Southern Tribe when all this is over. Zuko isn't going to try to take me away from that. Or from you." He left an arm around her and started back to the main courtyard. "Come on, let's get some lunch going. And we can tell Toph that her tea service will be back for dinner. She'll like that."

And after lunch, he thought, maybe Teo would help him bring some of his things over to the other pagoda when they went to work on the balloon. If even Katara was accepting the new normal, there was no need to be maintaining a room that far from where he preferred sleeping...

**A/N : I realized when working on this chapter that the story is almost done. Since it's about a different option in a Zukka relationship (both different from what Sokka first wanted and from the typical S3 romance between them) and they pretty much hammered down what they wanted from that option last chapter, it felt artificial to stretch the story to the season finale. So don't be shocked if the next chapter is an epilogue.**


	10. Epilogue

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

Sokka was stirring a penguin meat, seal meat and fish stew when Kota burst through the doorway of the icehouse, yelling with excitement.

"A ship, Daddy, I saw a ship, it's silver and has smoke over it, is it Uncle Zuko, is it?" Sokka laughed and caught him up before he could trip over dinner. "Is it him, you said he would be coming soon, will Irah be with him, will she?"

"As I told you - what, twenty five times already in the last week? Irah stays home with Aunt Mai when Uncle Zuko visits in the fall, just like you and Kya stay with Mommy when I go to the Fire Nation in the spring. You'll see your friend again next summer, in Ba Sing Se."

A scowl settled over the young face, and Kota spoke with the firmness of a six year old who has to explain things to a grownup **again**. "She's not just my friend, Daddy, I'm going to marry her, remember?"

"How could I forget?" After seeing the young heir to the Fire Nation once or twice a year for all of their short lives, Kota had decided at the last Team Avatar reunion that she would be his wife, and Irah had happily agreed, once she understood that getting married involved pretty clothes, a party and presents. Sokka and Zuko had attempted to explain the logistical hurdles in such a plan while their wives just smiled in quiet amusement and Iroh had enthusiastically aided the young couple, even helping Kota make an 'engagement necklace' out of clay and baking it with his firebending.

Zuko had complained that night that he never got_ his _engagement necklace, leading to a pillow fight and a threat to withhold kisses which Sokka had made good on for an entire two and a half minutes. The water tribesman smiled at the memory as he reached for some dried sea plums. "If it is Uncle Zuko, dinner will need to be a bit bigger, so why don't you take Kya out to gather some late berries for me? By the time you get back we'll know if it's him or not."

As he cheerfully filled out the stew, he heard a rustling as someone moved into the main room of the icehouse. "I heard something about a smoky ship. Should I be opening up the guest room so it can warm up?"

"Kannik, you don't need to get up yet!" Sokka gave the stew a last stir and moved quickly to sweep his wife off her feet and place her in a large pile of furs. "And you know he can heat up his rooms just fine, why make the rest of the house colder for something that will take him three breaths?"

"Because good hosts have comfortable rooms waiting for their guests, you mannerless southern savage," she responded as she lay back, contented.

"Yeah, and real men make their wives cook even when the sight of raw meat makes them retch, you tradition-bound northern priss." He stuck his tongue out happily and tossed her a piece of flatbread then went back to the stew.

"I'm sorry, does someone need a real man? I came just in time..." Zuko grinned as Sokka abandoned his cooking to near tackle him into a hug. "Are you sick, Kannik?" He twisted from the water tribesman's grasp to kneel and formally kiss the woman's hand.

"Just the usual morning, noon and night sickness. I swear it gets worse every time..." She smiled though and the Fire Lord's face lit up in happiness.

"Well congratulations and sorry all at once then! And as usual, Uncle Iroh is frighteningly insightful, because he suggested I bring you some ginger tea this year." He laughed as she practically shoved past him to paw through his dropped bags. "Relax, I won't make you wait till the kids get their presents, lie down again and I'll make you some."

"No, you should get settled in," she gestured to the side of the room and a doorway appeared in the ice perfectly placed for the thick hide curtain that hung on the other side. "Sokka, help Zuko with his things, I'll take care of the stew and make some of this," she clutched the decorated tin to her like a lifeline.

Sokka gave her a classic_ 'I really wanna but am obligated to object' _look, but she cut him off before he could even try. "Go on, it's not that bad this afternoon and now that the room is open it needs warmed up." He smiled his gratitude and gave her a quick kiss before grabbing his friend's other bag and following him through the doorway.

He was neither surprised nor displeased to be grabbed by a pair of strong arms the moment the hanging dropped behind him, or by the hungry kiss he was pulled into. "Hmmm... missed you, too," he said breathlessly once the other man let him go. "This room is freezing, get some fire on so you can take off the parka..."

Zuko chuckled and spread his arms while breathing steam out to heat the guest area. "Have I mentioned that you have the greatest wife on the planet?"

"Says the guy whose wife is running a country for him while he sneaks off on her for a couple of weeks!" Sokka responded with a grin.

"Hey, I'm sneaking off on my advisors, she gives me advice as I'm packing and asks for details when I get home! But okay, we both have great wives."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure when they're hanging out at the reunions they discuss how great they are and come up with ways for us to pay them back..."

Zuko grinned happily, in a way Sokka would never have believed eight years ago. "Mai always does have a lot of new requests after Ba Sing Se, you may be on to something, there." He stripped off his outwear and pulled the water tribesman down onto the fur covered bed with him. "If Kannik's morning sickness is worse than last time, maybe we should skip the hunting trip this year." He didn't sound happy, but he did sound sincere.

"I offered twice already, she'll probably perfect the water whip technique just to smack me if I try again. And she pointed out that we really do bring a lot of meat back, with you drying it out there, so the tribe almost depends on it for the winter prep."

"True..." the firebender nibbled at a tempting looking ear lobe while he ran his fingers through brown hair, playing with the beads that Sokka had started braiding into it once he was a father. "Maybe we'll make it shorter this year and spend the extra days fishing, then you'll still be able to help out in the mornings and evenings. I can dive for deep crabclams while you fish, didn't you say she got cravings for them during her other pregnancies?"

"Fresh crabclams in late autumn? She's gonna divorce me and beg you to take her a second wife! But yeah, that's probably a good-" he was cut off by the sounds of running feet and squeals at delight at the new door in the common room, and rolled off of the Fire Lord just as two bundles of blue clad energy burst through the hides and into the bed.

"Uncle Zuko! It _was_ your ship! We got berries for dessert!"

"Did you bring me presents, Uncle Zuko?"

"Did Irah send me a letter, I wrote her one last month, did she get it?"

"I hope you brought fire flakes!"

Zuko laughed helplessly as the two pounced. "I brought lots of presents, including fire flakes and fire gummies. Irah sent a letter and a painting of her in the necklace - _which_," he whispered as an aside to Sokka, "_she refuses to take off unless it's a formal function _- and the berries sound great, let's go help your mom get them washed." He scooped Kya up, tickling her face with his hair while Kota grabbed his other hand and enthusiastically pulled him out of the room.

As Sokka watched his two children continue their nonstop demands for attention from their 'uncle', his friend turned back in the doorway and gave him a smile that got him thinking of the non-hunting-related supplies he needed to be sure to pack for their trip. An old thought, familiar and warming, rose in his mind as he briefly considered the plausibly deniable tension release he'd gone looking for almost a decade ago._ 'This was __**such**__ a better idea than my original plan...'_

**A/N : Yes, Sokka married a Northern Tribe transplant rather than Suki. With her obligations to the Kyoshi Warriors, I decided that she really didn't make much more sense than Zuko as a life partner if Sokka feels strongly about his need to build a family in the Southern Tribe. I beg forgiveness of the Sukka fans.**

**A/N2 : My first completed multi chapter fic! Short compared to some, but long for what was originally conceived as a one-shot. Thank you all for reading! I might do some "one to three shots" before I start another extended work, so feel free to send suggestions, requests and encouragement!**


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